Only cornbread to thicken my chili

The story of today's lunch is so silly. Nevertheless, I am writing about it so you will know I did not make this up.

I saw on the lunch board after breakfast that we were having chili for lunch. I asked my aide if she would ask the cook if I could get a piece of bread or crackers, instead of the cornbread they were serving. I explained that I wanted to thicken the chili to make it easier to eat with either white bread or crackers. Cornbread works but it makes the chili sweeter – which I don't like. My aide acted like it was not a big deal to get me some crackers. But, crackers are an important commodity in nursing homes. It seems like they are always in demand and the supply is always short.

When I got down to lunch, I was later getting my tray. When I asked for crackers, I was told supposedly by the cook that I could not have them because they were not on the menu. So, I asked for a piece of bread and said I would give them back the cornbread. That was a no go also. The cook said since bread was not on the menu, I could not have it.

So, I told my aide to break up half the cornbread or less into my chili. I so hate runny soup – particularly chili.

I did appeal to my nurse and she came up with two packs of crackers. That was very sweet of her, but, she was too late. My aide had already thickened the chili with the cornbread.

I fail to understand why such dilemmas occur anyway. But they are getting very strict with the food here. We are allowed no extras. There wasn't even a sandwich on the backup menu. All that was on it was chicken noodle soup. There was no sandwich to accompany the soup, if a resident did not want the chili.

I plan to run this by the dietitian. I wonder if I discreetly ask for bread as a substitute for cornbread the next time I have chili, if I might not be able to get it.

They may just not want to do it in a room full of other residents who might want to copycat my idea.